Better Late than Never
by Niar-Muse
Summary: Reese Lamont had never been on a Pokemon journey, instead preferring to study about these fantastic creatures, but I suppose, its better to start late than never, even if its in a completely different region than where you were born.
1. Chapter 1

_"Reshiram, like Zekrom and Kyurem, is a member of the Tao trio of the Unova region. It is said to be a white-colored, bipedal Pokemon with Draconic, Avian and Mammalian traits based on old sketches found around Dragonspiral Tower. In Unova mythology, Reshiram is said to have sided with the older brother who sought the truth. It's last sighting dates back to merely three hundred years-" _

"Attention passengers we are now pulling into Mistralton Airport, please gather your belongings and prepare for landing." The cheery voice of the pilot requested as Reese sighed, closing the book he had been reading from and opened his satchel, putting the book away as the plane began to descend. Folding his hands in his lap, Reese glanced outside the window near him with stone gray eyes, below was a city that looked to rely on aviation as a way of life, rain clouds rolled in the distance, far over the mountain that rose from the ground nearby.

The plane was headed for a runway, a runway that seemed to be the only runway in the entire city from a birds eye view.

This would be his first time in Mistralton city, and his first time ever in Unova. Reese was born and raised in Jubilife City in the Sinnoh Region, both his parents were always away at work, wether it be treating patients at the local hospital or developing new technologies at Poketech Industries down the street. Needless to say, it gave his family little time with each other and prevented Reese from going on a Pokemon journey at the age of ten like most children his age.

* * *

The plane rolled to a stop and Reese found himself in the middle of the passengers that had been on the plane with him, some seemed to know where to go while tourists bustled around him, looking for an open cab, a family member or a lover. Reese himself had a bit to wait and had taken refugee in a near by book store, finding himself browsing through the many volumes that were on sale, of course they were simple things like travel guides on all the sights to see in Unova, magazines on all the latest fashions, Championship battles and advancements in technology. Nothing that would interest Reese at the moment.

With a half hearted sigh, he left the book store once the commotion outside had died down, bright sunlight streamed through the large windows of the airport as Reese adjusted his shoulder bag and pulled his luggage behind him, there wasn't much he had in material mater, several changes of clothes, the bare necessities and the rest of his luggage behind made up of books, note books, pens and pencils.

Looking up from the ground again he spotted just who he was looking for, a young woman with mousy brown hair pulled in an interesting ponytail atop her head, she wore a white lab coat over a simple white shirt and green pencil skirt. Approaching her, the woman smiled and held out her hand.

"Mr. Lamont , I'm professor Juniper." The Professor greeted cheerfully as Reese took her hand and shook it, noticing how her other hand remained in the pocket of her lab coat.

"Please, just Reese. It's great to finally meet you Professor, I've been reading your work on the way here. It's brilliant." Reese commented, his eyes lighting up as Juniper smiled and waved it off.

"Then you've gotten a head start on my research already, now first lets get back to my lab in Nuvema Town." Juniper suggested, retrieving a pokeball from her pocket and holding it out before her. A bright red light appeared, a pokemon beginning to take shape.

"Unfezant!" The aviary pokemon cried as Juniper looked towards Reese with a smile.

"Ready to go?"

* * *

Flying to Nuvema Town took little more than four hours as they raced against the fast approaching rain, making it to the front of Professor Juniper's lab just as the first droplets began to fall.

The inside of the lab was neat and tidy, a handful of scientists like Professor Juniper were busy taking notes on their own clipboards, paying little attention to their boss and Reese as they walked in, slightly damp and in Reese's case, exhausted from traveling.

"Your bedroom is just upstairs, make yourself at home." Professor Juniper instructed, leading Reese to a set of stairs leading up.

Upstairs was a simple hallway with three doors, one already open to view a fairly empty guest bedroom Reese assumed was for his use. Stepping in he closed the door and looked about the room.

It was fairly small, with a single bed against the wall, a nightstand next to it with a simple desk lamp. There was a small bookshelf by the desk in the corner and a closet, it was humble and scarcely decorated, but it was good enough for Reese as he dragged his luggage over to the bed and opened it.

Putting away clothes and placing books in alphabetical order on the shelf took up most of Reese's time as by the time he looked over at the wall clock, it was already two in the morning, he still had a bit of unpacking to do, but he could finish that up the next morning.

Yawning, Reese stripped off his light blue jeans and navy shirt, replacing them with a pair of black sleeping shorts and a simple dark blue tee-shirt with a pokeball design on the back. Folding his glasses and setting them on the nightstand, Reese pulled the covers of the bed over him and let sleep consume him.

* * *

**Hello readers! Welcome to the end of the first chapter of Better Late than Never, I find it kind of ironic considering its Midnight at the time I'm posting this, but hey, like the title says, better late than never. Anyways, short chapter to start things off, introducing our protagonist Reese, I'll try to be writing longer chapters as the story progresses.  
For now, please feel free to leave a review. Constructive criticism is very much appreciated.  
Till next time.**


	2. Chapter 2

Reese had never been on a Pokemon journey before, his family situation giving him little time to leave on the journey at the age of ten, but he made due with studying many of the books the public library had to offer. They had sufficed to start an interest of Pokemon Legends in the mind of a youthful Reese Lamont, but such an interest was not accepted by either of his parents who held such high jobs in Jubilife city, they laughed at the thought their son would go off chasing an insane dream.

His only supporter was his younger sister Lana, Lana was three years younger than Reese and sported the rare family trait of blond hair. She herself was the only one who supported Reese into sneaking books over to the house, listening to the theories he had begun to form at the age of thirteen and hiding his notebooks in one of her many secret hideaways all around the backyard. She was his life line, the only thing that kept him chasing his dreams.

Tragedy struck when one morning, Reese awoke to find Lana had run away, leaving him a note in her diary, claiming that she was going to stay with a friend in the Hoenn region and start her adventure there. He couldn't blame her, she would have never gone on an adventure in Sinnoh with the way their parents were.

Not a year had passed when Reese told his parents of his plans, he would attend Lumiose University in the Kalos region, majoring in Pokemon History with a minor in Mythology. Enraged by his defiant decision, Reese was cast out onto the streets, eventually making it to Kalos and crashing with a friend for the next four years.

He strived to graduate in the top ten of his class, sacrificing friendships, a social life, sleep and health to study, write papers and do effective research. It was worth it in the end, he had been accepted for an Internship in Unova to further his learning in the field and now he found himself wide awake and organizing files as rain poured outside.

* * *

Professor Juniper had wasted no time in setting him up with his responsibilities, apparently she had two new pokemon trainers coming in today to start their journey's. Reese didn't envy them, a pokemon journey was a milestone in most children's lives, but there were other things that could amount to the knowledge gained from traveling. Turning back to his work, Reese couldn't help but think what his life would be like if he had gone on a journey, if he had challenged the gym leaders, if he had traveled the Sinnoh region in search of rare pokemon. He would be a completely different person.

Pushing the thought aside Reese looked up just as the doors to the lab opened and closed quickly as two children stood there, they looked to be a little older than the age of ten, perhaps fifteen or in their early teens.

There was boy who was slightly taller than his friend, with neat black hair broken by a cowlick and dark gray eyes. He wore blue and black shoes, black jeans and a white and orange shirt that gave the illusion that he was wearing a tie, rounding out the outfit was a blueish teal suit jacket and a pair of glasses. He seemed of the serious nature with a good head on his shoulders, unlike his companion who stood aloof, green eyes wide with amazement as she scanned the laboratory.

She wore an odd green hat atop her head of short blond hair, a white blouse under an orange vest complete with a white long skirt over orange leggings and yellow shoes.

The two were definitely older than the age of ten, even from the way they maintained themselves as they waited for Professor Juniper to meet them with a metal cart, three bright and shinny new pokeballs sat atop the cart, no doubt containing the starters of the Unova region.

Reese looked on, temporarily taking a pause in his work to watch Professor Juniper and the two new trainers, she had released the three pokemon from their confines and now Reese had a clear look at them.

The first one was a reptilian pokemon with a slender build, Reese could clearly see that most of its body was a vibrant green with a cream underside, yellow markings around its large red eyes. A large, three pronged leaf was on the end of its tail, giving a clear indicator of its type, grass type.

The second was a pig-like pokemon, which was primarily orange with dark oval eyes, a pin nose and thick yellow stripe on its snout. Brown covered the upper portion of its head and lower back to the rear, its curly tail tipped with a ruddy pink sphere. It moved its closely pointed ears and huffed a cloud of smoke as if impatient. A fire type.

The final pokemon out of the three was an otter-like pokemon with a spherical white head and rounded white arms. The light blue fur on its body formed bubble like shapes around its neck, matching with the dark-blue triangular ears, flat feet and rudder like tail. Reese could see the pale yellow scalchop on its body and inferred that it was the water type of this region.

"Bianca, you choose first." The boy instructed, taking a step back and adjusting his glasses as his blond haired companion smiled brightly and stepped towards the pokemon, looking them up and down. She stopped when her eyes fell on the water type, her smile grew only wider and her eyes brighter.

"Alright! Oshawott, I can tell we'll be great friends!" Bianca claimed excitedly as the water type, now known as Oshawott, practically jumped into her arms.

Next the boy was up, he looked the remaining two pokemon up and down, as if assessing their behaviors before choosing the fire type.

"Tepig, I look forwards to our adventure." He stated simply, letting the pokemon join his side as Professor Juniper returned the remaining grass type and began to debrief the two trainers on their journey, to which, Reese turned his head away and returned to his work, though he was curious as to what the grass type was known as.

* * *

The day progressed quickly, Reese finding himself with a little extra time on his hands as he completed organizing the files given to him progressively throughout the day, his mind constantly wandering off to the grass type pokemon from earlier, several times he caught himself looking in the direction of the pokeball, which sat lonely on the metal cart, waiting for a trainer to chose it.

After a short meal of pasta, Reese found himself wanting to ask Professor Juniper about the remaining pokemon. Little did he know, Professor Juniper also wanted a word with him.

* * *

"Reese, could I have a word?" She called, beckoning him into the back of her lab, where her desk was located.

"Yes?" Reese inquired, walking towards her and stopping before her desk as she shuffled through paper work that Reese recognized as his resume.

"Your resume states you've never been on a pokemon journey." She mused, folding her hands over one another and looking him sternly in the eye.

"That's true." Reese confirmed, feeling all too hot all of a sudden.

"I want you to go on a pokemon journey."

"W-what?" Reese almost shouted, stumbling back and looking at the Professor with a bewildered expression.

"I, want you to go on a pokemon journey. It will help with my research and you will finally get to experience what it's like to have pokemon at your side." Professor Juniper explained, a smile forming on her face as Reese thought her offer through.

He didn't have much of a choice in the matter, the Professor did have a point, it would help with her research on the appearance of certain pokemon species.

"What will it be?" Professor Juniper asked, leaning forewords as Reese looked down and then back up, looking her in the eyes a fire had been lit in his soul.

"I'll do it."

* * *

**And that concludes our second chapter! Took a while to get in order but its here! There haven't been any reviews yet, not that I mind, but I would love to hear some feed back on how I should adjust things from here on out. I'll see you all in the next chapter!**


	3. Chapter 3

And that's how Reese Lamont found himself staring down the daunting Route 1 with Nuvema Town at his back and a Snivy named Imperia at his side.

The events of that morning played like a record in his mind.

* * *

He had woken up early that morning after a rather restless night, he had already packed his satchel with the necessary materials, strapping a dark blue sleeping bag to the outside so that he had something comfortable to rest in on his journey. Inside his satchel was a map of Unova he had purchased from Jubilife Airport just before his flight had taken off, an old camera he had found in his room days before leaving, luckily empty save for a picture of him and Lana smiling together, it was taken two days before she ran away. Two journals with an adequate amount of pens, pencils and spare erasers also filled the bag as well as a faded yellow winter jacket for when it started to get cold out. There was still enough room for him to fit supplies for himself, his pokemon and objects he may gather through his journey.

Running a brush through his messy coal black hair after a quick shower, Reese frowned when it sprung back into its unruly mess. He would love to have fixed it right then and there, but he had a schedule to follow, during his restless night, Reese had calculated how long it would take him to get to Acculmula Town from Nuvema with time for getting to know his pokemon, shop for supplies they might need and possibly find someone who could give some pointers.

Slipping into his clothes, Reese looked in the mirror of the bathroom, his shirt was a dark navy blue with sleeves that fell to his elbows, he wore a pair of faded blue-gray jeans and simple black and yellow running shoes. A pair of wiry glasses rested on the bridge of his nose, in a way he did look like the black haired boy from yesterday.

With a sigh, Reese ran a hand through his hair, stepped out into his room and grabbed his satchel, stopping at the door to his temporary bedroom and looking back, the journey would take him a long time, maybe if he took a book with him he wouldn't be that bored during breaks in the journey.

Grabbing the closest book, Reese shoved it into his bag as set off down the stairs, finding Professor Juniper already waiting for him with a Pokedex and the same cart from the day before, except with the two missing pokeballs replaced.

"You don't need to open them, I know which pokemon will be my companion." Reese announced, having remembered the order from yesterday's event.

"Oh? Well then, go right ahead."

Reese reached forewords hesitantly, pressing the button of the pokeball he knew contained the grass type starter.

"I choose you."

The grass type starter formed right before his eyes, looking up with bright red eyes full of surprise.

"Snivy, the grass type pokemon. Not many trainers considered her as a starter." Professor Juniper mentioned "Would you like to give her a name?"

Reese looked down at the Snivy as it clambered up his sleeve and rested on his shoulder.

"Imperia?" He simply asked, looking at the pokemon on his shoulder for a sign of approval.

The Snivy looked at him, blinked once, twice, thrice before a smile appeared on her face and she nodded happily.

"Then its settled, Reese and the Snivy Imperia." Professor Juniper said as she handed him the Unova Pokedex.

"This is your Pokedex, your job as a trainer is to fill the pages when on your travels." Professor Juniper explained, handing five smaller pokeballs over to Reese with the Pokedex.

"You can use these pokeballs to catch pokemon and add them to your team, it'll give Imperia some friends and you'll have a variety of pokemon to travel with."

"I see. Thank you Professor Juniper." Reese politely nodded, carefully packing away the Pokedex and balls in his bag, taking extra care to not jostle Imperia off his shoulders.

* * *

A short jaunt to the edge of Nuvema Town and Reese was at the start of his adventure. It felt as if a thousand Starly's were trapped inside him, he was nervous, but there was a sense of pride and accomplishment.

He was finally going to start a journey.

But first he would have to take that first step.

* * *

**And we're back with a new chapter. I enjoyed the review left in the wake of the last chapter and hope to see more in the upcoming future. See you guys in the next chapter!**


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